Blogging

Before I started this blog, I did a lot of research. I've always been a little weary of sharing my work with others when it isn't face to face. But, really there are a lot of benefits to blogging and though this blog isn't super popular (yet!) I'm still glad that I'm doing it. Here is a scripted FAQ to give you an idea of what blogging is about and if its for you.

Why should I blog?

Why not? Blogging allows you to put your thoughts on a page. You have things to say about a certain topic and not everyone you know is interested in the same things you are. By putting it online, you have now networked with people who are interested in the same things as you. You have people that care about what you're writing and people you can interact with. [But by no means is this a valid reason to go out and give all of your personal information to people you meet online, remember Catfish everyone]

I'm not a writer, I can't blog can I?

Of course you can. You can do anything you set your mind to. You can not improve your writing if you aren't doing it often. Blogging gives you the motivation to write daily and improve your skills as a writer.

What about people stealing my work?

There are always trolls on the internet trying to steal your spotlight. Don't let that stop you. Opinionated pieces (such as journals and most articles) are basically untouchable. While someone can steal your opinion and use it in their piece, they'll never be able to write it like you can unless they copy it word for word which is plagiarizing (but by then you can go and take legal action if the troll doesn't take down your work).

Ok, I'm convinced. But...what do I blog about?

 Blog about something you're passionate about. Shannon and I had no idea what to blog about but we both knew that we wanted to blog, so we collaborated to create this awesome blog. We don't have set topics that we blog about. Right now we're just putting out pieces on an array of topics and just feeling out the whole blogging thing. By doing it this way, we're seeing what we like to write about and what the public responds to most. If you know what you want to write about, great. By all means, go out and read other blogs based on that topic to get some ideas and inspiration. But if not, why not try writing about something you're passionate about (for me its gaming and writing if you couldn't tell)? You can also just blog about what's happening in your everyday life.

I have what I'm going to blog about, but which site do I use?

I'm only going to talk about the three main blogging sites that I know about. Blogger, Tumblr and Wordpress. Tumblr, to me, is more casual. If you're just blogging for fun then thats the site for you. More serious bloggers should turn to blogger or wordpress. Having only used blogger, I can vouch for this website because it's really convenient to follow other's blogs, put links and pictures and see the stats of your blog. 

What do I name my blog?

This one is all you. I can't tell you what to name your blog, but I can say that you better think long and hard about it before you enter it. On Blogger, your website url is not changeable so make sure it's one you're happy with. Do not settle because all of your original blog names are taken. It took us a while to get our name perfect so keep trying.

How do I get more followers?

Well, we're not exactly popping with a bunch of followers but the best advice I heard about this is to share your links everywhere. Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, through friends, as much as possible.

As always, thanks for reading. I hope this has been informative and helpful. If you have any other questions, feel free to drop them in the comments below. Follow our blog if you'd like! We'll follow yours back. Happy blogging!